JELLY's Pool Parties are a business - not a charity, but they have consistently provided great free concerts that support artists while doubling as a great place to hang out on Sundays during the summer. With that in mind, check out the press release they sent out below...

PRESS RELEASE

JELLY, the biggest summer event series to hit New York in decades, is in danger of being shut down. The Pool Parties were originally held at McCarren Park Pool and were moved to the East River State Park in 2009. The free concert series started as a regional event but expanded to global recognition in a short period of time. By summer 2009, audiences were traveling far and wide to experience the Pool Parties first hand.

The future of the Pool Parties at the East River State Park could be in jeopardy. After a very successful 2009 season with 8 weeks of free performances including Grizzly Bear, Girl Talk, The Black Lips, Dirty Projectors, Deerhunter, Dan Deacon, No Age, Mission of Burma, Beach House, and Simian Mobile Disco, news came from the New York State Parks Department and the Open Space Alliance that the East River State Park may not be available to JELLY for the 2010 season. This will ultimately put an end to the flourishing free summer series.

U.S. Senator Charles Schumer, a Brooklyn native, is now leading the fight to save the JELLY Pool Parties. The Senator took the stage at the last Pool Party in August 2009 and pledged that the free concert series would return to the waterfront in 2010. Senator Schumer and his staff have been campaigning for the Pool Parties to remain at the East River State Park, speaking to other state and city officials to ensure JELLY's free summer series will be back for a 5th year.

The fight is ongoing and the cause is now in need of public action. JELLY is reaching out to the community to call Senator Charles Schumer at (212) 486-4430, or via email phil@schumer.senate.gov to show their support and express any concerns on behalf of this tremendous free community program. The Senator will relay the public opinion to the NYS Parks Department and the Open Space Alliance.

Does this mean that NO ONE will do concerts at the park? Or just Jelly NYC won't have exclusive rights to do it?

What does this really do for the community? Does this really help anyone besides the beer distribution companies, Jelly NYC, and the artists who are paid to play? It is a PUBLIC park after all that is maintained with our tax money.

Why does Schumer give a damn about this? I don't buy the notion that he is helping because he likes the idea of indie rock shows in Williamsburg. If he does, why doesn't he do more to help some of the other promoters in Brooklyn or other parts of the city who are really doing more to support the arts than Jelly NYC?

when that fascist chuck schumer was at one of the pool parties last year all the dumb liberal hipsters who bought into that warmonger obama's "change" slogan were in awe. this might be the one good thing chuck schumer has ever done in his political career.

4:06- no i'm not retarded. I'm actually highly intelligent. Are you retarded? Why do you ask are you looking for another retarded person to have a play-date with or something? Did I say something retarded? Can you be more specific?
"Are you retarded" is only a counterpoint for people who actually ARE retarded.

it's weird to see so many people slamming an organization that has put on free events for several years that many of us have enjoyed. where's all this flippant disregard coming from? i've seen a handful of their shows, had some fun, and it didn't cost me anything - i'm inclined to help them stick around for another year, if i can.

I think Jelly is awesome. Fun rosters, free/cheap, and focused on making use of spaces that are re-imagined for everyone to enjoy. Kudos to them, and hope this can continue for those who enjoy the perk.

4:09, If you don't like the bands they book, feel free to masturbate to a Bon Scott poster alone in your room, again. You purist, you.

I'm with 4:37 on this one. I am guessing that a lot of you have attended at least one Pool Party in the past. Of course there are corporate sponsors- how else do you think Jelly has money to put on these events? If you would like to see another season of Pool Party shows then send a quick email to Senator Schumer. You have time to kill reading this site, so why not do something more productive with yout time?

"East River State Park may not be available to JELLY"
by their own press release the problem doesn't seem to be about free concerts or concerts in general, just "JELLY"
Why is Schumer promoting one promoter?

Start charging a small fee... to thin out the crowds. As it stands, I won't go to any more "Pool Party" shows b/c the crowds are just insane. I'll gladly pay a small fee-- like $10-- to see a show I'm interested in. I'm sure a ton of others will too. There's some funding.

Of course there will obviously be a ton of people who WOULDN'T want to pay for these shows... but screw them. Take them out of the equation & the crowds will become manageable, as opposed to unmanageable hoards of people, lining up for hours & hours, just to get turned away from an overcrowded park.

the fact that this thread has gotten 41 comments and not a single "schuMEHr" is a tribute to the young people of today: their ingenuity, their innovation, their restless quest for fresh ideas and original thinking. Thank you young people! I believe in you! I'd hit it!

What a totally unnessecary clusterfuck. As many have mentioned, the McCarren park pool looks exactly like it did in Aug 2008 when Sonic Youth played the last show there. And remember that was a pay show, as were Wilco, Devo and many others. For no apparent reason at all we lost not just the free jelly pool parties but a cool venue for ticketed shows. Seems like we should be petitioning the city parks dept to reopen the closed-for no-reason pool.

4:06- no i'm not retarded. I'm actually highly intelligent. Are you retarded? Why do you ask are you looking for another retarded person to have a play-date with or something? Did I say something retarded? Can you be more specific?
"Are you retarded" is only a counterpoint for people who actually ARE retarded.

Jelly, if you know them at all behind the scenes, has done nothing but take. Wake up Schumer, you are backing a horse that if you investigated further you would realize does not do doing anything but for themselves. Ask anyone that they have dealt with and you will find out the truth. You, Schumer, are doing nothing for yourself by supporting Jelly and those that know the truth see what kind of office you are really running. Spend some time talking to more people before you rush to defend such a lame company...

I really don't understand how this is a debate. the shows hurt no one. they are free. don't go if you don't like them. several people do. i am assuming all the complaints are coming from people who really wish that the east river park was a quiet picnic destination on the very few sundays it held concerts? yeah, right.

the cliche strawman of "yuppie assholes in condos" have nothing to do with McCarren Pool shutting down. it was a city government move. and it was a scam, the failure of which is no longer feasible to hide. as 7:06 pm said, the pool is exactly the same it was when Sonic Youth played the final ticketed show there, in August 2008. not a single brick has been laid down since then.

when the pool parties had their shows there, they had raging success, and as a ticketed venue it was also a success. moving the shows to a state park wasn't going to work and didn't.

remember when they found the dead guy decomposing in the McCarren Pool toolshed? let us show the world he did not die in vain!

they've done a lot of work on the arches, looks like they're reinforcing the facade and probably the roofs(some of which were little more than elevated ponds) before they start the construction of the buildings and the pool structure...

I think some of you fail to consider the economic collapse that occurred last fall, right after the pool was closed. Since then, municipal infrastructure projects haven't exactly been a top budget priority for the city or state. Particularly not recreational sites in Brooklyn.

I know this doesn't necessarily jibe well with your subsidized lives and inflated senses of entitlement, but that's what's up.

If any of you bothered to attend a community meeting or read a paper you would know that:

1. The community had been trying to get the pool reopened for years, long before any condos were built. It was set to be restored in 2001, then the money was lost due to 9/11.

2. This time the money is protected, despite the economy and budget cuts it will go forward.

3. Most of the work that has been done on the pool is structural, that is why it looks the same. The buildings have had to be reinforced and all kinds of other things. The buildings will reopen as a gym and community center in about 18 months. Then the pool will reopen after that.

4. Jelly NYC is a fantastic local group who have consistently put in great shows for free or cheap all over Brooklyn and the city.

5. The Parks Dept--even though it is a state park, the Parks Department of North Brooklyn is overseeing the concerts--basically wants to take the audience and operation that Jelly has set up and take all the money for themselves, or auction it off to Live Nation or some other big company. Why should a local Williamsburg company get shut out of their own project? That's fucked up.

Schumer has released the following statement, saying, “I happened to pass by the JELLY concerts when I was riding my bike through Williamsburg and was amazed at the thousands of people who lined the streets to come to the concerts. People from every part of the country who had made their way to Brooklyn, enjoying music and one another’s company - it’s the best of New York. When I heard that the concerts might be cancelled, I couldn’t understand why given that this is exactly what our parks are supposed to be for and I am going to do everything I can to see that they continue.”

Actually, LiveNation started the concerts and put in 100,000 dollars to do infrastructure work on the pool so that it would be safe for concerts long before Jelly even had the idea of doing them. If anyone should take credit for starting the concerts is it LiveNation. Without their money and initiative Jelly would never have inherited the space.